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Martha Moxley
Real Name: Martha Elizabeth Moxley Nicknames: No known nicknames Location: Greenwich, Connecticut Date: October 30, 1975 Case Details: After a night out with friends on October 30, 1975, fifteen-year-old Martha Moxley vanished. The next day, her body was found by her friend, Sheila, about fifty yards from her home; she had been stabbed and bludgeoned to death with a golf club. Although her pants and underwear had been pulled down to her knees, forensics showed no signs of rape or sexual assault. Fifty feet from her body, near her driveway, was the head of the golf club. One part of it was never located. Police estimated that Martha had been murdered some time between 9:45 and 10pm. At the time, everyone suspected that her killer was from outside of the gated community. However, to this day, the two main suspects in the case are her own neighbors, seventeen-year-old Thomas and fifteen-year-old Michael Skakel, relatives of the Kennedy family. There has never been enough evidence to charge either of them, so this case remains unsolved. Suspects: The immediate suspects in Martha's death were Thomas and Michael Skakel. The suspicion intensified when they lost one of their golf clubs, the same blunt object used as the weapon; it was later confirmed that it came from their home. Authorities questioned Thomas and Michael on October 31. Michael stated that he and Thomas had been with Martha on the night of her murder. Thomas was discovered to be the last person to see her alive. Thomas told police that he, Martha, Michael, and two other friends sat in their car from around 9 to 9:30pm. Their older brothers kicked them out because their cousin needed a ride home. The two friends left, and a few minutes later Martha supposedly did so too. Thomas told the detective that he then went inside because he had to write a report on Abraham Lincoln. He said that he last saw Martha at around 9:30pm. Detectives talked to his teachers and found that no such report had been assigned. Michael corroborated part of Thomas' story. He told police that he went with his oldest brothers, John and Rush Jr., to give their cousin a ride home. Investigators soon identified another suspect in the Skakel household: twenty-four-year-old Kenneth Littleton, a live-in tutor for their seven children. He had moved into the house on the same day that Martha was murdered. He claimed that he was watching French Connection that night. He also claimed that the housekeeper, Mrs. Watson, had seen him inside at around 9:45pm. She told him that she had heard noises coming from outside her window. He claimed that before he looked outside, he decided to check on the children. Rush Jr., John, Thomas, and Michael were still not home. He claimed that he did not see anything outside. Kenneth claimed that he did not see Thomas until 10:25om, when he joined him to watch TV. The other three sons came home within half an hour. Over the next few months, detectives interviewed hundreds of people and gave several polygraph examinations. Thomas was given two tests; the first was inconclusive, but he passed the second one. Then, after months of cooperation, the Skakels put a halt to any further questioning, on the advice of their attorneys. Eventually, attention was returned to Kenneth after he was let go by the Skakels. In July 1976, he was arrested in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for burglary and theft. He failed a polygraph in connection to Martha's murder. Investigators felt that he, Thomas, and Michael, were all plausible suspects in it. Thomas and Michael were known to have a crush on her, but she rebuffed advances from them, preferring to stay friends. This may have intensified the desire for her murder. After the case flopped in 1976, it faded into obscurity. However, fifteen years later, that of William Kennedy Smith became national news. As he is a famous blood relative of Ethel Kennedy's children, the Skakels are her nephews, Martha's murder became the talk of the town again. In 1991, the police brought in forensic pathologist Dr. Henry Lee. He re-examined forensic evidence with technology that was not available in 1975. Among the evidence was clothes that were found discarded in the Skakels' garbage around the time of Martha's murder. This included pants and sneakers that were believed to have belonged to Michael. Some hairs on them were microscopically similar to Martha's. Others belonged to a male Caucasian; however, he had none from any of the suspects, so he was unable to make a match. Based on crime scene photographs, Dr. Lee gave police a possible motive for Martha's murder. To him, the blood smear on her body suggests that it was a sexually-motivated homicide. There were no defense wounds on it, which suggested that she knew her attacker. Also, the multiple strikes to her head and stab wounds suggest that her killer was enraged with her. In 1991, Rushton Skakel, the family patriarch, hired a private investigator to put the rumors to rest once and for all. This proved a serious error as Thomas and Michael changed their stories than what they gave police during their 1975 interrogations. In November 1995, Leonard Levitt published an article about the case. In it, he wrote about the new stories that they had given to the private investigator. Thomas and Michael both told the investigator that they had lied to the police about their whereabouts on the night of Martha's murder. Thomas stated that after 9:30pm, he went into his house. Later that night, he went back outside and spent another twenty minutes with her. He also claimed that they had engaged in a sexual act and he left at around 9:50pm. To Levitt, the story does not make sense. At 1am, Martha's mother, Dorthy, called around the neighborhood, asking about her. Thomas said that he last saw her at 9:30pm. It would not make sense for him to lie about his whereabouts when no one even knew that she was dead. Michael told the investigator that around midnight, he went to Martha's house, climbed up a tree, and threw stones at her window to wake her. He then climbed down and apparently passed the murder scene. He claimed that he heard something but did not see anything. Levitt felt that it was unlikely that he could have walked through that area without finding Martha. Based on the changing of the stories and all of the other evidence, the police are almost certain that one of the Skakels killed Martha or at least has information about the case. Extra Notes: This case first aired on the February 16, 1996 episode. It also ran on Cold Case Files. Results: Solved. A few years after Martha's murder, Michael had more scrapes with the law and was shipped to a military-style boarding school called the "Elan School". His roommate later recalled a conversation where he confessed to her murder. He said that she had rejected his sexual advances, so he beat her with a golf club, which broke during the assault. He also commented, "I'm going to get away with murder. I'm a Kennedy." This witness did not come forward until 1996 as a result of the broadcast. Other witnesses from the Elan School also came forward, claiming that he had confessed to killing her. They even claimed that he had admitted to it during a group therapy session. Along with members of the Elan School, Michael made incriminating statements to others. Kenneth claimed that when he asked him if he had killed Martha, he did not deny it, saying "Who else could have done it?" The family driver told police that in 1977, Michael had told them that he had done something "really bad". He had also tried to commit suicide by jumping off of a bridge that they were driving on at the time. A barber also recalled him mentioning that he wanted to kill someone. When his sister responded, "Shut up, Michael." his reply was, "Why not? I did it before." Furthermore, investigators noted that Michael had made other incriminating statements about his whereabouts on the night of Martha's murder, including that he was fondling himself above the same tree that she would be found near. Investigators believe that he may have made this statement in order to explain his DNA being found on her body (although no DNA was actually found on it). A friend of Michael's sister, who was at the Skakel home on the night of Martha's murder, claimed that he did not go with his brothers and cousin to the latter's home. She recalled that he had stayed behind and that his sister talked with him after the car left. His sister also told police that she believed she saw him walking on their property after the car left. Several friends also told police that he was infatuated with Martha and wanted a relationship with her. They also claimed that he was jealous of her relationship with Thomas. Michael was arrested for Martha's murder in 1999. However, in 2001, before his trial, one of the witnesses died of a drug overdose. Despite this, he was tried and convicted of murder on June 7, 2002. Adding to the evidence was that his roommate was subpoenaed to testify during the trial. Jurors believed that the circumstantial evidence (including his various confessions, statements placing him at the murder scene, access to the murder weapon, and motive) were enough to prove his guilt. They also said that they did not believe his alibi witnesses and that his siblings and cousin were covering for him. He was sentenced to 20 years to life for first-degree murder. In October 2007, a Superior Court Judge denied his motion for a new trial. In a dramatic new development, in October 2013, Michael was granted a new trial by a Connecticut judge who ruled his attorney had failed to adequately represent him when he was convicted in 2002 of killing Martha in 1975. He argued his trial attorney, Michael Sherman, was negligent in defending him when he was convicted in her murder. Prosecutors have said they will appeal the decision. Martha's brother, John, said the ruling took him and his family by surprise, and they hope the state wins an appeal. In his ruling, the judge wrote that defense in such a case requires attention to detail, an energetic investigation and a coherent plan of defense. "Trial counsel's failures in each of these areas of representation were significant and, ultimately, fatal to a constitutionally adequate defense," Judge Thomas Bishop wrote. "As a consequence of trial counsel's failures as stated, the state procured a judgment of conviction that lacks reliability." On December 31, 2016, the Connecticut Supreme Court reinstated Michael's murder conviction, holding that Sherman provided a constitutionally adequate defense. However, he has not yet returned to prison. In May 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction again. The State is currently deciding whether to try the case again. Links: * Martha Moxley on Unsolved.com * Martha Moxley on Wikipedia * Unsolved Halloween-Eve Death Still Haunts Chief Investigator * After 16 Years, Murder Investigation Reopened * The murder that won't go away: the Moxley case after 18 years * Unsolved but not forgotten * 1975 murder case revived * The Moxley case: From murder to trial, a 26-year history * Skakel Witness Dies of OD * 'I'll Go Get A Kiss From Martha' * Skakel Guilty of Murder * Skakel Is Convicted 27 Years After Girl's Murder * The Sutton Report * State v. Skakel * State of Connecticut v. Michael Skakel * Skakel Gets New Trial in ’75 Killing of Teenager in Connecticut * Timeline of the Michael Skakel-Martha Moxley Case * Michael Skakel’s Murder Conviction Has Been Reinstated * I tutored a Kennedy relative — and wound up accused of murder * Connecticut Court Reverses Murder Conviction of Michael Skakel * Four Decades After Martha Moxley’s Murder, Her Mother Says ‘It’s Enough’ * Martha Moxley on Find a Grave ---- Category:Connecticut Category:1975 Category:Murder Category:Conspiracy Cases Category:A&E Cases Category:Solved